Upscale Audio and Primaluna

+1, I agree with the above post by @ghasley.   His comments are right on target.   

Kevin, like all of us, needs to pay the rent. No surprise he would push Prima Luna.

Personally I like Kevin and he is one of my "go to guys", but any sales person denigrating your current equipment is out of line. I had a gentleman from common sense audio do that to me. I was about to buy a set of speaker drivers off him, but rather than giving me the low down on his drivers, he decided to run his mouth.

I ended up buying a set of drivers elsewhere. Simple. As a customer, you don’t have to deal with a wise ass.

jumia  That sounds like my old pal Ken Fisher, the then 1970's B&W and Audire rep for Florida.  He would walk into a shop, tell them how and why their stuff sucked, and set up his Audire's and B&W's, then sit back for you to be amazed at the sound.  Somehow, he was usually right about the difference, but in addition to alienating the shop personnel with his intro, he would then sit his stinky body (from spending nights in his car after traveling through out Florida with out A/C) and fire up a cigar. 

I bought a PL integrated for a second system years ago from Kevin and thought it was a  good value,having owned  a complete Jadis system  for over 15 years id say Prima Luna is absolutely not high end. .and if you think so i feel your pain 

There are many great responses above.  Here's my two cents. 

Upscale Audio--  This is an A+ Grade dealer.  They are awesome to work with and even though they aren't perfect, they do the right things to make it right.   For example, I have a PL Dialogue HP integrated.  The remote was acting up.  I sent it in for service.  Well, the pandemic crushed them and everything.  They got insanely busy and my silly remote issue got triaged accordingly--to the back of the line, as it should have.  But, after 3 months waiting I pinged their service center.  They were awesome.  They felt so bad that they sent me a brand new remote ($250 value).  That's service and commitment.  And no one can say they should've done more sooner.  In the end, the always make it right. 

Kevin Deal--  Personally, I love the guy.  He and I don't always agree, but I love his passion.  He deserves to be successful.  He gets it.  He's been doing it since he was 18.  Think of that.  I don't care that he pushes PL.  He should.  

Kevin Deal is a good human being. I've bought tons from his shop.  I personally loved talking to him on the phone from Chicago.  If I was in LA, I'd end up befriending him.  Would love to have a cocktail or coffee with the brother. 

PL--  Just exactly as folks say above... PL is not the end all be all.  But you have to recognize it's damn fine gear and it's priced fairly given the quality and how it's built to last 2 generations.  I've built a bunch of stuff over the last 4 years.  I've learned a ton.  While I don't think PL aims to sound the best, it compromises in its design so that it is a set and forget product.  It is a bit more geared toward folks who want to buy McIntosh or Audio Research and linked it to their speakers.  It's consumer friendly beyond belief.    

I really think PL is perfect for folks who buy mainstream brands of speakers, like Focal, Dynaudio, PSB, B&W, and want to get into tubes.  I think you can get more clarity and holographic feel from other products (some priced less), but Kevin Deal and PL deserve serious credit.  

PS. Who are these folks that just say stuff like Tannoy is ancient history?  My lord---Tannoy's heritage line is pretty special.  I think we are living in a binary-thought-process age, meaning folks say things without experience or if something is not their cup of tea they have to dismiss it outright.  For example, I'm not likely to buy a Harbeth speaker any time soon but my god do I have respect for what they do.